Combined coat and trouser hanger with flat metal connecting member



Feb. 4, 1964 N. E. BROOKE 3,120,331

COMBINED COAT AND TROUSER HANGER WITH FLAT METAL CONNECTING MEMBER Filed July 18, 1961 101 mm fil oake' ATTORNEY United States Patent COMBINED COATAND TROUSER HANGER WITH FLAT METAL CONNECTING MEMBER Norman E. Brooke, 3232 Rittenhouse St. NW.', Washington, DC.

FiledJuly 18, 1961, Ser. No. 124,940'

2 Claims. (Cl. 223-91) This invention relates to improvements in garment supports and is directed to a new and novel coat and trouser hanger.

Many styles of hangers have been developed for sus pending coats and trousers together which preformthe desired function efliciently, but which nevertheless are designed with a lack of ingenuity and foresight which materially affects the value of the article from the economic point of view both of the manufacturer and the consumer. Such lack of ingenuity also affects the ease with which the hanger can be handled in use, even though, as above stated it may serve its purpose as a supporting device after the coat and trousers have been respectively hung thereon and secured thereto.

It is an object of the present invention, in view of the foregoing, to provide a new hanger device for a coat and trousers wherein the individual parts are fabricated and joined together in a novel and unique manner which is not only simple and easy to use or operate, but which may be produced and sold economically.

'It is another object of this invention to provide a hanger which not only has the foregoing advantages, but one in which the said advantages are to a great extent attained by reason of the fact that an important element of the device may be easily formed by samping and joined or secured to other elements with a minimum of labor.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hanger of the character stated wherein a coat supporting bar and a pair of jaw members for gripping and suspending a pair of trousers, are coupled together by a unique type of spring unit formed in one piece in such manner that it can be firmly fixed to the coat bar with a single fastener and which unit has spring legs joined to the jaw members and biased to separated the latter, and wherein there is an easily manipulated means connecting the legs by which they may be drawn together to grip an article therebetween.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FlIGURE l is a view in perspective of the combination hanger of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a view in perspective of the one piece spring unit.

FIGURE 4 is a developed view of the spring metal strip from which the spring unit is formed.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional View taken substantially on line 5-5 of FIGURE 1.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing it will be seen upon reference to FIGURE 1, that the hanger comprises a long one piece, longitudinally arcuate bar 16, to which are attached the one piece spring unit 12 and the pair of jaws forming trouser cuff gripping means 14.

The bar is formed, preferably by stamping, from a single piece of metal of suitable material, such as aluminum or steel, or it may even be formed of a suitable plastic such, for example, as Lucite. The bar is of a suitable width and thickness. To give an example, without intending to limit the invention thereto, the bar width may be about one or one and a half inches and a thickness of about from three-thirty seconds to about oneeighth inch.

3,l2ll,33l Patented Feb. 4, 1364 The bar, in addition to being generally arcuate through its length, is formed with a short centrally located arcuate portion 2%, which curves sharply downward at its ends as at 22, and then merges into the relatively long and only very slightly longitudinally curved, or 'very nearly straight, opposite directed extention portions 24, and these terminate in the downturned tips 26.

Additionally, the bar ltl'is slightly transversely bowed or arcuate, the convex side being uppermost, as seen in FIGURE 2.

At the transverse center of the bar a hole 28; is formed, to receive the threaded lower end or shank of a hanger hook. The hook is generally designated 30, and the shank end, which is threaded as shown, is designated 34.

The spring unit 12 is formed in a suitable manner from a single strip 36 of spring steel. It has a relatively wide middle portion 38, joining the long end portions 4d. The middle portion provides the head of the formed unit and the end portions provide the spring legs.

Centrally of the portion a hole 42 is formed to receive the hook shank 32.

The middle portion 33 of the spring unit is bent transversely to an arcuate shape and the legs 40 are thereby placed in spaced relation, diverging toward their free ends and biased to return to this spaced apart divergent relation after being pressed together.

The convex top of the head portion of the spring unit comforms to the concave under surface of the central portion 2% of the bar, when it is placed thereagainst with the holes 28 and 4 2 aligned.

When the two parts are put together in this manner the shank 32. of the hook, having first had a lock nut 4'4 threaded thereon, is extended through the holes 28 and 42 and a cap nut 46 is tlneaded on the end of the shank to bear against the underside of the head 38. The two nuts may then be drawn tightly together to firmly join the bar and spring unit.

When the top of the arcuate head portion 38 is thus seated and secured in the concave underside of the bar, it will be seen that the spring legs will be positioned in a plane perpendicular to the bar, and the spring unit cannot turn from this position.

The grippin means 14 comprises the two jaw members 54 which are longitudinally arcuate through the major part of their length, each terminating in the short straight portion 51. These short terminal portions 51 of the two jaws are parallel so as to come together flatly when the jaws are closed, and the terminals 51 of one jaw each has an inner surface depression 52 which receives an inner surface button 53, as shown in FIG. 5, to effect a firm grip on an article therebetween.

The inner faces of the two jaw members are preferably covered by a suitable friction material 54, of sponge rubber, plastic, felt or the like.

Each of the jaw members is formed with an outstruck loop 55 midway between its ends, beneath which is clamped or gripped the bottom, free end 56 of a leg 40 of the spring unit 12. This connection between the loop 55 and the end of the leg may be maintained by triction only or by any other suitable means.

Coupling the legs 40 together is an elongate slide-ring 53. This ring encircles the two legs and is of such length I that when it is slid down toward the jaws it will draw the latter together.

Although the entire unit 12 is resilient so that both the legs and the middle or head portion will bend and be placed under tension When the legs are pressed toward one another, the greater width of the middle or head portion will keep it from bending or flexing as easily as the narrower leg portions. Thus when the lower, jaw carrying ends of the legs are pressed toward one another, as by forcing the slide-ring 58 downwardly thereon, the sides of the middle or head portion will bend less freely than the legs extending therefrom and the legs will bow outwardly, as shown in FIG. 2, and the slide-ring therefore will not slip up accidently on the legs.

From the foregoing it will be seen that there is provided by the present invention a new and novel combined coat and trouser hanger which can not only be made light in weight and of strong construction, but which can be made economically.

I claim:

1. In a combined coat and trouser hanger wherein there is an elongate longitudinally arcuate coat supporting bar and a pair of elongate cooperating jaw members disposed longitudinally of the concave side of said bar; the combination with said bar and jaw members of a one piece substantially U-shaped inverted spring rnetal connecting member between the bar and said jaw members having spaced leg portions joined by an arcuate bight portion, the said leg portions being biased to separate to a divergent relation and each leg being secured at its free end to the mid-point of a jaw member and said bight portion being secured to and against the midpoint of said bar on the concave side thereof to position said spaced apart legs in a plane normal to the bar, there being a slide-ring encircling and coupling said legs for drawing the free ends of the legs and the jaw members together when slid on the legs toward the jaw members, the said spring metal connecting member consisting of a single length of flat material having a short longitudinal section midway between its ends of materially greater width and less flexibility than the remaining parts which form the legs, and said short section being bent transversely midway between the ends thereof to form said bight portion, the said leg parts being of greater flexibility than the said bight portion assume an outwardly bowed form when the free ends thereof are drawn together by the slide ring and function to 0ppose accidental slipping of the slide ring away from the jaw members when it has been moved to its lowest position on the legs, and means attached to said mid-point of the bar on the convex side thereof for suspending the hanger.

2. The invention according to claim 1, wherein the said means for suspending the hanger consists of a hook having a threaded shank end extending through the bar and through an opening in the said bight portion and a nut threaded on said shank end below the bar and said bight portion and contacting the bight portion and a means carried by the shank end above and engaging the top of the bar and cooperating with said nut to secure the bight portion to the concave side of the bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 536,483 Ronner Mar. 26, 1895 1,324,209 Reid Dec. 9, 1919 2,640,633 Olpe June 2, 1953 2,924,362 Brooke Feb. 9, 1960 

1. IN A COMBINED COAT AND TROUSER HANGER WHEREIN THERE IS AN ELONGATE LONGITUDINALLY ARCUATE COAT SUPPORTING BAR AND A PAIR OF ELONGATE COOPERATING JAW MEMBERS DISPOSED LONGITUDINALLY OF THE CONCAVE SIDE OF SAID BAR; THE COMBINATION WITH SAID BAR AND JAW MEMBERS OF A ONE PIECE SUBSTANTIALLY U-SHAPED INVERTED SPRING METAL CONNECTING MEMBER BETWEEN THE BAR AND SAID JAW MEMBERS HAVING SPACED LEG PORTIONS JOINED BY AN ARCUATE BIGHT PORTION, THE SAID LEG PORTIONS BEING BIASED TO SEPARATE TO A DIVERGENT RELATION AND EACH LEG BEING SECURED AT ITS FREE END TO THE MID-POINT OF A JAW MEMBER AND SAID BIGHT PORTION BEING SECURED TO AND AGAINST THE MID-POINT OF SAID BAR ON THE CONCAVE SIDE THEREOF TO POSITION SAID SPACED APART LEGS IN A PLANE NORMAL TO THE BAR, THERE BEING A SLIDE-RING ENCIRCLING AND COUPLING SAID LEGS FOR DRAWING THE FREE ENDS OF THE LEGS AND THE JAW MEMBERS TOGETHER WHEN SLID ON THE LEGS TOWARD THE JAW MEMBERS, THE SAID SPRING METAL CONNECTING MEMBER CONSISTING OF A SINGLE LENGTH OF FLAT MATERIAL HAVING A SHORT LONGITUDINAL SECTION MIDWAY BETWEEN ITS ENDS OF MATERIALLY GREATER WIDTH AND LESS FLEXIBILITY THAN THE REMAINING PARTS WHICH FORM THE LEGS, AND SAID 